Today in News History

On June 17, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1242, Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris. In 1940, George Akerlof, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate was born. In 1958, Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian academic and politician was born. In 1959, Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player and coach was born. In 1966, Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi journalist and author was born. In 1967, Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon. In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised press conference called drug abuse "America's public enemy number one", starting the War on drugs. In 1992, A "joint understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II). In 2017, Baldwin Lonsdale, president of Vanuatu (born 1948) passed away. In 2020, Jean Kennedy Smith, American activist, humanitarian, author and diplomat (United States Ambassador to Ireland, 1993-1998) (born 1928) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.